Saturday, March 26, 2016

Here's a new good song: "Five More Days" by JP Cooper f. Avelino. Thematically, there are echoes here of Prince's "Money Don't Matter 2 Night," and musically there are whispers of Arrested Development -- blues, hip-hop, soul, gospel and pop. It''s about running out of money each and every pay cycle, and counting down the days until the next paycheck comes so that you can, you know, eat. Very relatable, especially these days, unfortunately. Enjoy!

Here's a new good song: "No Time" by Different Sleep f/ Jarell Perry. It's a bit peculiar, with its unexpected audio samples, but it all works together in an innovative salad of dance, soul and techno. Enjoy!

Here's a new good song: "Electric" by Brett. Boy is this beautiful. It reminds me of the similarly titled "Electric Indigo" by Paper Kites, which was the fourth-best song of 2015. Cool, sweet, groovy throwback light rock with liberal use of reverb. Enjoy!

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Here's a new good song: "Bourbon" by Christopher Gallant, who professionally goes only by his surname. Like the opposite of Cher. "Bourbon" is great atmospheric R&B, like The Weeknd but with more appealing vocals. Enjoy!

Here's a new good song: "Where The Hell Are My Friends?" by Lany, a synth-pop trio who may be the best thing to happen to America in the past five years. They had the third-best song of 2014, "ILYSB"; the 80th-best song of 2014, "Walk Away"; and the 13th-best song of 2015, "Someone Else." Just such great songwriting -- simple arrangements and effective vocals. Their new track, "Where The Hell Are My Friends?" kicks the tempo up a bit. It's very fresh. Enjoy!

Here's a new good song: "In God's House" by Bat for Lashes, the stage name of Natasha Khan. Natasha does wonderful, synth-driven moody pop music. She had the seventh-best song of 2009, "Daniel"; the 40th-best song of 2012, "Laura"; and the 42nd-best song of 2013, "A Wall." Now she's back with "In God's House," a song about a woman who's left at the altar. It's a real downer, but very pretty. Enjoy!

Here's a new good song: "No" by Meghan Trainor. Before winning Best New Artist at the Grammys last month, Trainor was best known for releasing four annoying Top 20 hits in 2014-15, the first of which was "All About That Bass," a song that celebrates being out of shape. Now Meghan is back with "No," an attitudinal reject-that-man-in-the-club song that's pretty darn catchy. The production leans modern-R&B, rather than toward the retro-R&B she explored on her debut album ("Title"). It's a welcome change of direction. Enjoy!

Monday, March 21, 2016

Here's a new good song: "Mad At You" by 3OH!3. This duo is best know for their 2008 hit "Don't Trust Me," which wasn't a very good song and was somewhat offensive. "Mad At You" is also somewhat offensive but less so, and the chorus is really catchy. Both are super immature. Enjoy!